1636: The Devil's Opera (Ring of Fire)

I really love the writing of Eric Flint and usually enjoy his works, sad to say this is not one of those times.

My major problem is that to make it "authentic" they go into areas that are so pretentious and detailed that a person who has a doctorate in German history and the 30 Years War would find it wearying, much less somebody who is passingly familiar with history.
The biggest grievance was the fact that the sack of Magdeburg in 1631 by Heinrich Pappenheim and Jonhann Tserclaes (Count Tilly) was repeated several times - I mean we got it the first time.
The other issue is the detail that they go into the period's music - it is painful and a distraction with too much detail about things that have absolutely nothing to do with the story.
The positives are the characters are very well developed and believable, the stories are very well thought out especially the story of Hans and Simon I believed that the ending with Simon was beautifully done. This alone would be recommendation to get this book except for having to wade through all the other stuff.

Baen Books seems to have bad luck with 'co-authored' works.

Even when one of the co-authors has, as a single author, produced numerous excellent novels, the co-authored works seem to come out no better than mediocre.

I am beginning to wonder if Baen Books has an executive with a title something like 'Co-Author Co-Ordinator' who takes part in the authorship of every co-authored work. If there is such a person, he or she does not seem to be doing good work.

If you want to read this book, first listen at least once to 'Do You Hear The People Sing?' from 'Les Miserables.'

More plots in this book than in some small cemeteries.

Carrico's characters are reasonably complete and fairly believable - although why a WV small town would contain a concert quality musician/singer ... But this book continues the development of the Culture of Germany as affected by the introduction of 20th century Americana. And does it very well.

1636: The Devil's Opera (2013) is the thirteenth SF Alternate History novel in the Ring of Fire series, following [[ASIN:1451638906 1636: The Kremlin Games]]. The initial volume in this sequence is [[ASIN:0671319728 1632]].

In the previous volume, Vladimir and Boris came to Grantville in 1631. Neither believed the stories about the town until they saw it themselves. They found a place to stay and then Boris searched for an information source.

Boris discovered the Grantville Public Library and got access to some of the information he needed. But the librarian pointed out the National Library was a better source. She suggested that he hire a professional licensed researcher or take the library science basic course at the high school.

Boris briefed Vladimir and Trotsky on the situation. Vladimir decided that someone would take the library course and they would look into hiring a researcher. But a native researcher would not be trusted with all of the search.

Trotsky asked when they will go home. Their original assignment was to verify the rumors. Yet someone must stay in Grantville, so they would send Boris back to Moscow.

In this novel, Mary Simpson is the wife of Admiral Tom Simpson. She has immense expertise on funding and staging the arts.

Beth Haygood is the Head of the Duchess Elizabeth Sofie Secondary Schools for Girls. She is also one of Mary's lieutenants in planning cultural events.

Rebecca Abraband is the wife of Mike wife Stearns. Her husband is away commanding an USE division, so Rebecca has taken his place as a leader of the Fourth of July party. She is now Vice President of the United States of Europe.

Ed Piazza is an uptimer. Now he is a leader of the Fourth of July party and currently President of the United States of Europe.

Gustavus Adolphus Vasa II is the King of Sweden, the Emperor of the USE, and the political leader of the Union of Kalmar. He is recovering somewhat from his battle wounds, but is not capable of performing his political duties.

Kristina Vasa is the only child of Gustavus Adolphus and a princess of Sweden. She is the heir to the throne. She is also betrothed to Ulrik and their children will rule most of Scandinavia.

Oxenstierna is Chancellor of Sweden. He is making a bid for the other holdings of Gustavus while the Emperor is disabled.

Wilhelm Wettin is Prime Minister of the USE and the head of the Crown Loyalist Party. The former duke is having troubles with the various factions within his party.

Marla Linder is an uptimer married to Franz Slywester. The couple lead a group of musicians that are trying to establish a new approach to musical affairs. Marla is currently depressed after she loses her first child in a miscarriage.

Frederich von Logau is a Silesian poet. He has a talent of interpreting English language into German verse with similar meanings.

Simon Bayer is a downtimer with a useless right arm. It has been totally limp as far back as he can remember. His parents died in the sacking of Magdeburg in 1631 and he has had bad luck with foster parents.

Hans Metzgerinin is a warehouse worker in Magdeburg. His sister Ursula was trampled by a horse in a crowd fleeing the soldiers in 1631. Her right leg healed crooked and shorter than the left.

In this story, Oxenstierna has claimed the regency over Princess Kristina, leadership of the Union of Kalmar, and acting Emperor of the USE. It is this latter claim that concerns Rebecca and Ed. The Ox has established a court at Berlin to oversee the USE.

Mary has visitors calling upon her household. Ed and Rebecca have come to ask her help in making Magdeburg seem more important than Berlin. Although Mary is not a politician, she readily understands that this is one move in keeping Oxenstierna out of USE affairs.

After her visitors leave, Mary and Lady Beth start planning arts and cultural events that will improve Magdeburg's popularity. They decide on a preliminary schedule. Then they start pulling in artists of several sorts.

One of the major activities in the works is an opera about King Arthur of Camelot. They ask Marla to help plan the music. Marla grabs this opportunity to set aside her grief and work on something interesting.

Marla contacts a composer to start the opera and then adapts an uptime lyric as the theme song. She contacts Frederich and asks him to transliterate the words. After reading the lyrics, Frederich offers to transliterate the lyrics for free. After he finishes the poem, however, he asks Marla for three payments, none of which are monetary.

Meanwhile, Simon finds a floater in the Elbe River. He asks for help from two fishermen, who rob the body. Then they ask Simon to report the drowning to the city watch. They do offer him a bowl of hot soup.

Simon has been looking after himself for several years now. He runs errand, delivers packages, and sweeps floor. He has just finished sweeping a bakery for Frau Zenzi and eating one of the rolls she gave him when he notices two men waking down the street.

Simon sidles up to the alley where they have gone to ground, but can't really hear much of their conversation. Then another man comes whistling down the street and Simon hears one of the men exclaim that their target has arrived. Simon yells at the target as the two men rush toward him.

Hans calls Simon his luck and takes him the Chain, a bar in a very bad neighborhood. Hans arm wrestles with another patron and breaks the other man's arm. Then Hans takes Simon home to meet Ursula.

Two Magdeburg Polizei detectives try to solve the case of the floater found by Simon. They have no leads, so the captain tells them to try harder. They eventually learn that Hans Metzger may know something.

This tale is a tearjerker at times. The scene where Marla initially sings the German version of "Do you hear the people sing?" induces a vicarious pride in her and the whole human race for producing her. Nobody with any empathy should read that without a tear or two.

Marla is not a major player in German politics, but she has just lit a fire that will swell throughout the USE. Especially since she has made a recording of the song. Oxenstierna is going to have a fit.

This story is partially based on tales in [[ASIN:1416573879 Ring of Fire II]] and [[ASIN:1439134480 Ring of Fire III]]. The next installment in this sequence is [[ASIN:1451639392 1636: Seas of Fortune]].

Highly recommended for Flint & Carrico fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of altered history, political intrigue, and a bit of romance. Read and enjoy!

-Arthur W. Jordin

This installment introduces you to new characters in the ROF universe. I read it through to the end, but I don't see myself reading it again as I have with all the others.

Eric Flint - Don't do like weber has done and write stories that are so predictable and are just designed for you to buy the next volume

Eric Flint - Don't do like weber has done and write stories that are so predictable and are just designed for you to buy the next volume

Eric Flint - Don't do like weber has done and write stories that are so predictable and are just designed for you to buy the next volume

Its another grand adventure. If you like the series you'll like the book. the series addresses moral and political issues in a way that I find enlightened and not obnoxious. Eric Flint clearly has an agenda that history is more than leaders and military battles but keeps us entertained.

It's hard to capture the spirit of music in words, but the authors succeed.

Anything else you need to know you'll doubtless find in the accompanying reviews. This is neither the start of the series nor a major step forward in the chronology, but rather a detailed interstitial exploration of a relative eddy in the on-rushing current: if you're just starting out, track down the earlier entries first.